Main frame for corn heads

ABSTRACT

A row-crop-gathering attachment having a plurality of row-cropharvesting units that can be slid transversely of the attachment while being supported thereby. The row-crop-harvesting units can be releasably secured to the gathering attachment at selected locations to accommodate crops of various row spacings.

Inventors Appl, No.

Filed Patented Assignee Martin .1. Whitney East Moline;

Wiliiam L. Forsberg, Moline, both of, 1111. 24,6341

Apr. l, 1970 Ang. 17, 1971 international Harvester Consip-any Chicago,H11,

[54] MMM IFRAME F011 CORN HEADS malins, 4 Drawing Fim.

[52] 111.5. Cl .c 56/105 [5l] llntACl .lADItJMS/O;` {50} Neid oil'Search 56/98, 103,

[56] Meten-enc@ Cited UN YI'ED STATES PATENTS 3,520,121 7/1970 Ashtonetal 56/106 FOREIGN PATENTS 307,98 l/1969 Sweden 56/105 PrimaryExaminer--Antonio F. Guida Attorney-Floyd B. Harman ABSTRACT: Arow-cropgathering attachment having a pluv rality of row-crop-harvestingunits that can be slid transversely of the attachment while beingsupported thereby. The rowcrop-harvesting units can be releasablysecured to the gathering attachment at selected locations to accommodatecrops of various row spacings.

PATENTED AUG 7197i 3, 599 .409

SHEEI l UF 3 INVENTORS MARTIN J. WHITNEY WILLIAM L. FORSBERG BYWM ATT'Y.L

PAIENTEUAUGIHQH 3,599,409

SHEU 2 nF 3 IN VENTORS MARTIN J WHITNEY FORSBERG PATENEU um 7 ma SHEEI 3FV 3 ATT'Y.

MAIN FRAME FOR CORN HEADS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of theInvention This invention relates generally to gathering and pickingunits for corn and other row crops and more particularly to the meansfor adjustably mounting the row crop units in the gathering or pickingattachment.

2. Description of the Prior Art A corn head attachment is mounted on acombine in lieu of the grain platform and functions to remove the earsof corn from the stalk and deliver them to the threshing mechanism ofthe combine. Reference is hereby made to the Karlsson et al. U.S. Pat.No. 3,101,579 of Aug. 27, 1963 for a disclosure ofa conventional cornhead. Corn heads are currently built to harvest a finite number (fromtwo to eight) of corn rows. The space between rows of corn currentlyvaries between and 40 inches. Corn heads can be adjusted within a rangeso that they can harvest corn of various row spacing. For example, acorn head designed to harvest four rows of corn could be adjusted tohandle rows spaced either 36, 38 or 40 inches apart. Since there is aseparate picking unit for each of the rows, the drives to the individualpicking units and the sheet metal housing must be designed to permitthis adjustability. Reference is hereby made to the Ashton et al. U.S.Pat. No. 3,271,940 of Sept. 13, 1966 for an example of adjustable sheetmetal housings and of drives to the individual row crop units that willpermit transverse adjustment of the units. Although the prior artdevices, such as disclosed in the above'referred to Karlsson et al. 'andAshton et al. patents, can be adjusted for various row spacings, specialtools and a considerable amount of work are required to reposition theindividual picking units and to recouple the drives.

SUMMARY The general purpose of this invention is to provide arowcrop-harvesting unit which embraces all the advantages of similarlyemployed row-crop-harvesting units and possesses none of the abovedescribed disadvantages. To attain this, the present inventioncontemplates uniquely shaped anchor brackets for eachrow-crop-harvesting unit that cooperates with a uniquely shaped mainframe to mount the harvesting units on the main frame such that they arefull)l supported thereby while permitting transverse sliding movement ofthe harvesting units relative to the main frame. The drives forindividual harvesting units are interconnected with 'adjacent units andcan accommodate with minimum work the change from one row spacing toanother. The change can be accomplished while the corn head is mountedon the combine and requires a minimum number of replacement parts. It isan objective of this invention to provide a multirow crop harvester thatcan be readily adjusted for various row spacings without dismountingfrom the mobile unit and without the use of special tools and fixtures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. l is a front view of a combinehaving a corn head mounted thereon;

FIG. `2 is an exploded view of the main frame and row-cropharvestingunits;

FIG., 3 is a side view of a portion of the corn head; and

FIG. 4 is a view of thedrive for'the row crop units looking towardtherear.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT' platform portion 14. The cornhead shown in FIG. 1 is a fourrow unit and includes an individualrow-crop-harvesting unit for each of the four rows. The gathering chains47 for several of the units are visible in FIG. l. The remainingportions of the row-crop-harvesting units are covered by sheet metalwhich functions to deflect the corn stalks towards therow-crop-harvesting units. The row-crop-harvesting units 40 are mountedon an elongated transversely extending main frame 20 for ad justmentalong said main frame. The `purpose for this adjustment is to adopt thecorn head for the particular row spacing that is to be harvested. Thesheet metal coverings for the rowcrop-harvesting units are expandableand retractable to permit this adjustment as is well known in the art.

The platform 14 is built around the elongated transversely extendingmain frame 20 that can be best seen in FIG. 2. The main frame 20 is inthe form of a tubular beam having a substantially flat upper surface 21and an aft side 22. A transversely extending groove 23 is formed in theaft side 22. The upper surface of the transversely extending groove 23is designated the first support surface 24. A rearwardly extendingflange 25 has a plurality of apertures 26 formed therein. The driveshafts 27 and gear boxes 28 are carried by the main frame 20 and arevisible in FIG. 2. The chain tighteners 29 also visible in FIG. 2 arecarried by a row-crop-harvesting unit 40.

The individual fore and aft extending row-crop-harvesting units aredesignated 40 and in FIG. 2 the gathering chain 47 is illustrated on theforemost rowcropharvesting unit. Each rowcrop-harvesting unit 40 has aflat undersurface designated 4l and an anchor means 42 secured to andextending downwardly from the rearmost portion thereof. The anchor means42 has a forwardly directed protrusion 43 which is shaped anddimensioned to be received by the transversely extending groove 23formed in the main frame 20. The upper surface of the forwardly directedprotrusion 43 is designated the second support surface 44. The anchormeans 42 also has a trailing edge 45 in which there is formed aplurality of apertures 46. As is seen in FIG. 3, means such as a nut andbolt 50 extend through the apertures 46 of the anchor means and theapertures 26 of the main frame, thus, releasably locking arowcrop-harvesting unit in a selected position on the main frame.

As can be best seen in FIG. 3, the corn head 12 has a ground supportlocated adjacent each end ofthe main frame 20 for a purpose to bedescribed. The ground supports 60 include a groundengaging pad 6I and apin 62 for securing the telescoping portions of the ground support in anadjusted `position.

Referring now to FIG. 3, it can be seen that the substantially flatupper surface 21 is, during normal operation, inclined from front torear such that the row-crop-harvesting unit 40 would tend to slide downthe surface 211 towards` the front of the machine. ItV becomes apparentwhen exa-mining FIG. 3 that the row-crop-harvesting units 40 would tendto pivot in a l counterclockwise direction relative to themain frame 20and that this counterclockwise-rotation'is prevented byengagement of thefirst and second support surfaces 24 and 44 respectively.

There are two separate input drives to each of the row-cropharvestingunits 40. Each of these input drive is derived from the drivel shaft 27,but through separate paths. This is important .to the subject inventiononly in that the drives must be such that-they w-ill permit transverseadjustment of the rowcrop-harvesting units 40. Each row-crop-harvestingunit 40-includes a horizontal drive shaft.designated through which driveis provided for the gathering .chains 4,7. The horizontal driveshafts'70-of the outermost row-crop-harvesting-units 40 have sprockets7lsecured thereto that are connected by a chain (not shown)toan alignedsprocket 72 (see FIG. 2) carried by the drive shaft 27. Telescopingcoupler shaft 73 are provided to connect the horizontal drive shaft 70of adjacent row-crop-harvesting units. (See FIG. 4) The length of thetelescoping shafts '73 can be set by inslertinga pinl through alignedholes formed in the two sections.

The second input drive for the row-crop-harvesting units 40 are for thepurpose of driving the stalk rolls designated 48. For this purpose, asprocket 74 is carried by the output shaft of the gear box 28 which isaligned with sprockets carried by the row-crop-harvesting units 40 andthe chain tightener 29. lf a slight adjustment is made between adjacentrow-crop-harvesting units 40 the chain tightener 29 can function toaccommodate the change in required chain length. lf larger adjustmentsin the row-crop-harvesting units are made then it is necessary to add orsubtract links from the chain.

OPERATION When it is desired tochange the spacing betweenrow-cropharvesting units on the corn head, the corn head is elevatedthrough the conventional hydraulic system of the combine and the groundsupports 60 are setto support the platform 14 such that therow-crop-harvesting units are out of engagement with the ground and aresuspended on the main frame 20. The telescoping coupler shafts 73connecting adjacent units 40 are released to permit them to telescopeupon themselves. The means 50 for locking the units 40 in a selectedposition are released and if a large adjustment is to be made, thechains 75 are opened. The necessary steps are taken to permittelescoping ofthe sheet metal. At this point, the harvesting units 40are slidingly supported on the main frame and can be slid transverselyof the main frame to the new desired position. When the harvesting units40 are properly located, the means 50 for locking them in the newposition are reinserted, the telescoping coupler shafts 73 are adjustedand secured at their new lengths and the chains 75 are joined. At thispoint, the corn head would again be elevated by the hydraulic system ofthe combine and the ground supports 60 stored in their raised position.

What we claim is:

l. A row-crop-harvester attachment for mounting on a mobile unitcomprising:

an elongated transversely extending main frame having a substantiallyflat upper surface and an aft side having a transversely extending firstsupport surface, said first support surface being vertically spaced fromsaid upper surface;

a plurality of fore and aft extending row-crop-harve'sting units, eachsuch unit having a substantially flat undersurface and anchor meansextending downwardly from the rear of each unit, said anchor meansincluding a second support surface vertically spaced from saidundersurface;

said flat undersurfaces and said second support surfaces adopted to bearagainst said upper surface and first support surface respectively suchthat said row-cropharvest ing units are supported in cantilever fashionat the rear of the units on said transverse main frame and permittingtransverse sliding of the row-crop-harvesting units relative to saidtransverse main frame;

and means for releasably locking said row-crop-harvesting units at aselective position relative to said main frame.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein said substantially flatupper surface is inclined from front to rear.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein said aft side of saidmain frame has a transversely extending groove formed therein, saidgroove extending the entire length of said main frame, the upper surfaceof said groove forming said first support surface.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein said anchor meansinclude forwardly directed protrusions, the upper surface of saidprotrusions forming said second support surfaces.

5. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein said aft side of saidmain frame has a transversely extending groove formed therein, saidgroove extending the entire length of said main frame, the upper surfaceof said groove forming said first support surface.

6. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein said anchor meansinclude forwardly directed protrusions, the super surface of saidprotrusions forming said second support s urfaces.

7. The invention as set forth m claim 3 wherein said anchor meansinclude forwardly directed protrusions, the upper surface of saidprotrusions forming said second support surfaces.

8. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein said anchor meansinclude forwardly directed protrusions, the upper surface of saidprotrusions forming said second support surfaces.

Disclaimer and Dedication 3,599,409.Martn J. Whitney, East Moline, andWilliam L. Forsberg, Moline, Ill. MAIN FRAME FOR CORN HEADS. Patentdated Aug. 17, 1971. Disclaimer and dedication iled Dec. 12, 1977, bythe asslgnee, International Harvester Oompany. Hereby enters thisdisclaimer to all claims and dedicates to the Public the remaining termof said patent.

[Oficial Gazette A pril Z8, 1.978.]

1. A row-crop-harvester attachment for mounting on a mobile unitcomprising: an elongated transversely extending main frame having asubstantially flat upper surface and an aft side having a transverselyextending first support surface, said first support surface beingvertically spaced from said upper surface; a plurality of fore and aftextending row-crop-harvesting units, each such unit having asubstantially flat undersurface and anchor means extending downwardlyfrom the rear of each unit, said anchor means including a second supportsurface vertically spaced from said undersurface; said flatundersurfaces and said second support surfaces adopted to bear againstsaid upper surface and first support surface respectively such that saidrow-crop-harvesting units are supported in cantilever fashion at therear of the units on said transverse main frame and permittingtransverse sliding of the row-crop-harvesting units relative to saidtransverse main frame; and means for releasably locking saidrow-crop-harvesting units at a selective position relative to said mainframe.
 2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidsubstantially flat upper surface is inclined from front to rear.
 3. Theinvention as set forth in claim 1 wherein said aft side of said mainframe has a transversely extending groove formed therein, said grooveextending the enTire length of said main frame, the upper surface ofsaid groove forming said first support surface.
 4. The invention as setforth in claim 1 wherein said anchor means include forwardly directedprotrusions, the upper surface of said protrusions forming said secondsupport surfaces.
 5. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein saidaft side of said main frame has a transversely extending groove formedtherein, said groove extending the entire length of said main frame, theupper surface of said groove forming said first support surface.
 6. Theinvention as set forth in claim 2 wherein said anchor means includeforwardly directed protrusions, the super surface of said protrusionsforming said second support surfaces.
 7. The invention as set forth inclaim 3 wherein said anchor means include forwardly directedprotrusions, the upper surface of said protrusions forming said secondsupport surfaces.
 8. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein saidanchor means include forwardly directed protrusions, the upper surfaceof said protrusions forming said second support surfaces.